The young Daoist looked at Jing Jiu for a long time. The bewilderment in his eyes gradually turned to understanding, and finally a hint of a smile appeared. "So it was you."
"Yes, it was me," Jing Jiu said.
"How did you turn back into what you looked like as a child?" the young Daoist asked.
"Senior Brother, you look just as you did back then too," Jing Jiu said.
The young Daoist was, of course, True Person Taiping, who had hidden inside the Azure Sky Mirror. For some reason, he too had become a youth, just like Jing Jiu.
"Perhaps it's because we're both divine souls. Never mind, let's not think about that. I just don't understand..."
"I erased my own memories. Even I couldn't remember who I was. How did you find me?" True Person Taiping asked.
Jing Jiu raised the blood-red feather in his hand.
"So that was it." True Person Taiping sighed. "I listened to sutras at the Fruitful Accomplishment Temple for years and even served as abbot for a while. Only today have I learned that the teachings of karma are no empty words."
"And this," Jing Jiu said, pointing at the bamboo broom in his hand.
He knew the difference between the passage of time inside the Azure Sky Mirror and outside. From the wear on the broom, he could tell how long the other man had stayed at this Daoist temple.
In other words, how long he had been inside the Azure Sky Mirror.
Naturally, then, he could not mistake him for someone else.
In truth, even without these clues, he would not have mistaken him.
Just as Eldest Young Master Zhang had still recognized him.
It had been evening when Jing Jiu left the Chu Capital. Now the dusk in the sky